Dress finisher



June 15, 1948. J, E, FIT'POLD 2,443,557

DRESS FINISHER Filed July 13. 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Jbsep/z [1 Fizfpo [6i BY (2%,fiflti r ATTO NEYS

J. E. FITPOLD DRESS FINISHER June 15, 1948.

Filed July 13, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Joseph ATTORN \S E. Eff cola 7 June 15, 1948. J. E. FITPOLD 2,443,557

DRES-S FINISHER Filed July 15, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Joseph E. Fitpold June 15,1948. 7 J. E. FITPOLD 43,

DRESS FINISHER Filed July 13, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Joqgp/z E. Fit mold I iamcz J. E. FITPOLD DRESS FInisH-ER June 15, 1948.

6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 13, 1946 INVENTQR Joseph E iii 001d BY I ATT ORN :5

1 1943' J. E; FITPOLD 43,557

DRESS FINISHER Filed July 13, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 i "Alli/ 7 INVENTOR fisep/z E. Fitpold BY mafia? I Patented June 15,. 1948 DRESS FINISHER Joseph E. Fltpold. Chicago, Ill., assignor to United States Hoffman Machinery Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application July 13. 1946, Serial No. 683,325

This invention relates to apparatus for processing an entire dress or other similar garment, by means of steam and heated air, without the application of pressure from any ironing or pressing surface. More particularly the invention relates to apparatus comprising a reticulate or mesh metal form, covered by a baggy, somewhat porous fabric envelope, over which a garment may be placed and held in suitable position while steam and/or hot air or other fluid conditioning medium is blown outwardly through the bag and garment.

Garment finishing apparatus of the foregoing type has been proposed heretofore. The present application relates especially to improvements in such apparatus, which facilitates the placing of dresses and other garments upon the form and insure better and safer application of steam to the garment.

An object of the invention is to provide improved means for securing and supporting a porous bag upon a heating form and also to insure better and more efficient handling of garments while they are being placed upon or removed from the form.

Another object is to provide simple and effective means for delivering satisfactorily dry steam to the interior of the garment in the condition of fine mist. 7

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter. r

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment showing a lady's dress draped upon the form to receive a finishing operation;

Fig. 2 is in part a side elevation and in part a vertical section on an enlarged scale, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, drawn to a still larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is in part a cross-section, taken on line 5-5 of'Fig. 4, and in part a'plan view thereof;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section, taken on line 6-8 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of Fig. 6.

Y The finishing apparatus shown in the draw- 4 Claims. (Cl. 223-70) 2 ings comprises a base I0 upon which is mounted a cylindrical housing I2,-a blower H. with its drive motor l6 and an air intake unit l8. An inner shell 20, centrally located within the housing, receives air from the blower l4; after the air has passed through an air tunnel 22 and been heated by passage through a steam-heated, fintype radiator 24. The shell 20 extends above the walls of the housing l2 and supports the inner raceway 26 of a ball-bearing structure, the outer raceway 28 of which supports an annular sheet steel ring 30 forming the bottom supporting member of a reticulate metal garment form 32. A felt sealing ring 34 bolted to the top of raceway 2t serves to prevent escape of air and steam from inside the shell 20, exteriorly of the garment form 32.

The annular ring 30 carries at its circumference a depending beaded ring 3|, about which the bottom of the porous bag 36 is secured by means of a resilient loop of spring wire 38, disposed within the hem- 40 of the bag.

A downwardly sloping annular metal cover 35 rests upon the top of the housing I2, and completes the enclosure of the space between the wall of the housing and the inner shell.

The body 29 of the garment form 32 is preferably made of flat expanded metal which. is brazed or welded at its lower end to the ring-.20, and at its top to form metal neck and shoulder front plate 4i and neck and shoulder back-plate 42; see Figs. 2, 6 and 7.

A novel feature of the present garment form is the device by which the bag 36 is supported thereon. By. reference to Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 7, it

' will be seen that the shoulder and neck plates i l and 42 are shaped. to provide a deep recess or notch 43 which separates the front plate I from the back plate 42. 'This notch cuts right down through neck and shoulder from side to side and is of substantial depth from front to back of the recess. The bottom of the recess is flat metal continuous. with the front and back walls of the recess.

A bolt or rivetlike member. which passes up through the bottom of the recess 43, as shown, is welded or brazed to the metal of the form, as

at 47, and extends upwardly therefrom.

The porous bag is made with a notch 46. similar to the notch 43, which whenthe bag is placed over the form interfits perfectly with the "said notch 43, the bottom of the notched portion of the bag being perforated to receive the upstandlug shank of the bolt 44. The latter is internally threaded as at 45, and after the bag has been drawn down over the bolt. a sleeve member ll having oppositely extending horizontal flanges 4! at its base is slipped over the bolt, with its said flanges in engagement with the bottom of the bag notch 48. The sleeve member is held in place by a stud III which threadedly engages the threads 45 of the bolt member; a collar ill on the stud, engaging the upper end of the sleeve member, holds the whole assembly tightly in position. The said stud extends upwardly above the collar II to provide a pin 52 upon which a special garment hanger 54 may be seated within the notch. The hanger may be retained in place in any suitable mannen'as by the cooperation of a spring controlled latch with an annular groove 58 in' the pin portion of the stud.

The hanger I4 constitutes a permanent although removable part of -the apparatus. The notch 48 has a greater dimension from front to back than has the garment hanger in the same direction, and the bolt 44 and stud 50 are forwardly oflset from the shoulder center line of the respective notches, whereby a space 51 is left to the rear of the hanger when in place in the garment notch. This space is provided to permit the temporary disposal therein of the ordinary wire hanger, as 58, commonly used in handling and supporting garments of various sorts" during intervals between treating operations in the laundry or dry cleaning plant. On such a hanger dresses awaiting finishing would be carried when needed from any supporting rack to the dressform. As the dress is placed upon the permanent hanger of the form the wire hanger is simply dropped, to rest in the notch until the dress is ready for removal, when by grasping the wire hanger by its hook the dress may be quickly and easily removed from the form without musslng and again hung upon a suitable storage rack, or the like.

. Now referring to 'Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the air intake unit will be seen to comprise the air conduit l8, into which air is admitted through a screened opening, as at 58, and is controlled, as to volume going to the blower M, by a butterfly typedamper Ell. During a treating operation of a garment or a lot of garments, the blower runs continuously, the air supply to the garment form being controlled by adjustment of the damper 60 which provides a wide range This arrangement avoids the inconvenience and expense of constantly switching the motor on and oil for frequent pauses which are often necesof air volume variation.-

' tive relation with a bell-crank lever 12. Lever sary, and assures full volume instantly when needed. The reduced volume of hot air normally passing the closed or nearly closed damper and flowing through the apparatus, at other times, maintains the steam separator and steam delivery device at proper working temperature.

A spring ill surrounding the damper rod 62, secured at one end to the conduit l8 and at the other to the said rod, normally holds the damper in closed position. The outer end of rod 62 carries an arm 83 pivotally connected to a drag link 84, which through an adjustable clevis 65 is connected to the treadle lever 66, which is equipped with a suitable ratchet lock and kickofi releasing device 81. The air control treadle extends out through an opening 88 in the front part of the housing l2, to the left of center, as seen from the front of the apparatus.

Similarly located to the right of center is a steam valve control treadle lever 10 equipped with ratchet and kickoff lock and release device H, which extends within the housing i2 into opera- I2 is pivoted at II within the housing and is pivotally connected at its upper end at 14 to a steam throttle valve drag link II, which in turn is connected to the operating lever I. oi. a throttle valve 11, presently to be described more fully in connection with a steam separator III, a steam delivery nozzle ll and a steam deflector 82, by means of which devices suitably dry steam is delivered as a mist to the interior of the metal form and porous bag, as required. A compression spring 1'8 surrounding the drag link ll normally holds the valve 11 in closed condition.

The steam supply for the apparatus is admitted through a hand controlled valve 83 to pipe l4. connecting with branch pipes 85 and SI, the former pipe leading steam to the radiator 24 and the latter to the upper closed end of the separator 88. A baille 81 extends downwardly from the upper closed end of the separator to divide the upper portion thereof into two semi-cylindrical chambers 88 and N, which connect below the lower end of the bailie with the space 90 at the lower end of the separator structure. Space 00 is connected by condensation branch return pipe ill to return pipe 92 and check valve 93. The return from the radiator is by way of branch return pipe 91 and return pipe 82.

From the dry steam space 89 in the separator, riser pipe 95 connects with the quick-opening throttle valve l1, which by means of a nipple 80 is connected to an especially designed spray nozzle 8i positioned coaxially within the metal form a short distance above the bottom thereof. The opening of valve 11 to the nipple 9e is suitably restricted by means of a reducing bushing or to provide for a wanted degree of superheat in the steam as it leaves the valve ll. Mounted on the nipple 96, immediately below the ball shaped nozzle 8|, these is provided the upturned bronze bowl-like deflector 82 which is suitably supported upon the nipple 96 by an integral collar 9:: and set screw 99. It will be noted that ball nozzle BI is perforated only beneath its diametric horizontal plane so that all steam jets issuing therefrom will be directed downwardly into contact with the upturned surface of the deflector 82.

Since some hot air from the radiator is constantly being blown upwardly through the form and around the deflector and nozzle, the bowl always remains hot enough to ire-evaporate any entrained drops of water leaving the nozzle or having a tendency to condense and collect in the bowl so that the nozzle and bowl can only deliver steam in the form of a fine relatively dry mist, upwardly along the inner surfaces of the form and thence through the porous bag and garment being treated thereon.

The bag 36 is flexible and made of fabric permeable to a fluid medium such as air and/or steam, but woven with suflicient tightness to provide sufiicient resistance to the passage of the fluid to eifect distension thereof and the maintenance of a certain pressure therein. The important function of the bag is to support and distend the garment under treatment to its normal size, and to provide uniform distribution of steam and/0r air to all portions of the garment being treated. The amount of pressure is regulated by the positioning of the damper '80, which damper controls the volume and velocity o! the air entering the bag.

In operation, a dress or other garment, with or without its wire hanger, is placed on the form, over the deflated bag. As the dress form and its regular integral hanger takes up the support of the garment, the wire hanger may be dropped to lie loosely within the notch at the neck of the bag and'form.

When the garment is in position the operator steps on the treadle to open the throttle valve 17, whereupon steam is admitted to the ball nozzle 81 from which it is exhausted through the apertures 33, located below the horizontal center plane of the ball, into the upturned deflector bowl 82, whence it is directed outwardly and upwardly along the inside of the metal form and bag, and through the same and through the garment upon the bag. Thus the bag is ballooned to the shape of the garment, and the steam will pass substantially uniformly through the bag and through the garment to soften the fabric of the garment and allow smoothing out the wrinkles in the garment while in its distended condition. The smoothing out of the garment may best be accomplished by lightly brushing with a small brush orwhiskbroom.

At the time of steaming, or subsequently thereto, the damper 60 is opened the proper amount for admitting air in the desired quantity into the bag 36 for distending all portions of the garment to their proper shape. After the steam is shut off the blast of heated air maintains proper distention and thoroughly dries out the garment, so that the fabric is set to shape by the bag. When this set has been accomplished, the damper 60 is closed to shut off the greater part of the flow of heated air and permit collapse of the garment for ready removal from the form.

It should be noted that claims covering the construction specifically defined or shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings are presented in a division of this application filed August 13, 1947, Serial Number 768,397.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to provide means whereby to attain the objects hereinbefore set forth, and accomplish other more or less obvious advantageous results.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is understood that all matter set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.-

I claim: I

1. In apparatus for finishing garments, a perforate garment form, a flexible porous covering over said form, means for discharging steam within said covering comprising a ball-shaped nozzle mounted in the lower part of said form and having discharge perforations positioned only in the lower half of the nozzle, and an upwardly concave deflector mounted beneath said nozzle and cooperative therewith to direct steam upwardly along the inner walls of said form in the condition of fine mist.

2. In apparatus for finishing garments, a perforate garment form, over said form, means for discharging steam within said covering comprising a steam separator disposed beneath said form, a discharge pipe extending upwardly from said separator into the lower part of said form, a steam nozzle mounted at the upper end of said pipe provided with 4 downwardly directed perforations, and an upwardly concave deflector mounted on said pipe beneath said nozzle and cooperative therewith to direct steam upwardly along the inner walls of said form in the condition of fine mist.

3. In apparatus for finishing garments, a perforate garment form, a base, a cylindrical shell mounted upon said base beneath said ,form, a bearing device cooperatively associated with said shell and "garment form to permit rotation of said form about the axis of said shell, means for introducing heated air under pressure within said shell, and means for discharging steam within said form comprising a steam separatbr within said shell, a stream discharge pipe extending upwardly from said separator to the lower part of said form, a steam nozzle mounted at the upper end of said pipe provided with downwardly directed perforations, an upwardly concave deflector mounted on said pipe beneath. said nozzle, and means connecting said separator with a steam supply.

4. In apparatus for finishing garments, a perforate garment form, a base, a cylindrical shell mounted upon said base beneath said form. a bearing device cooperatively associated with said shell and garment form to permit rotation of said. form about the axis of said shell comprising an inner ball-race mounted at the upper end of said shell and an outer ball-race carried at the lower end of said form, means for introducing heated air under pressure within said shell, and means for discharging steam within said form comprising a steam separator within said shell, a steam discharge pipe extending upwardly from said separator to the lower part of said form, a steam nozzle mounted at the upper end of said pipe provided with downwardly directed perforations, an upwardly concavesdeflector mounted on said pipe beneath said nozzle, and means connecting said separator with a steam supply.

JOSEPH E. FII'POLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordv in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,140,961 Lendle Dec. 20, 1938 2,259,369 Fitzgerald Oct. 14, 1941 2,319,434 Pungor May 18, 1943 2,338,776 Miller Jan. 11, 1944 2,378,565 Locke et a1. June l9, 1945 a flexible porous covering 

